Computers as Mindtools for Engaging Critical Thinking

Although initially OVERWHELMED by the amount of information in this article, once I'd finished reading, I was surprised to find that I generally agreed with most of what Jonassen said. I think he summed it up with...

"Our goal as technology-using educators, should be to allocate to the learners the cognitive responsibility for the processing they do best while requiring the technology to do the processing that it does best."

By using Mindtools, teachers are encouraging students to think about and expand upon what they know, using the computer programs not as an easy cop out (in that they do all the work), but as a tool to do basic organizational things (retrieval, storage of info etc), allowing students more time to think about the topic at hand, with a clearer head. When you construct something yourself, you are forced to really think about what you are doing- when you make the text boxes, create the links or whatever- rather than simply filling in a pre-constructed worksheet.

The descriptions of the various Mindtools available to teachers were kind of scary-sounding at first- SEMANTIC ORGANIZATIONAL TOOLS, DATABASES, DYNAMIC MODELLING TOOLS... But once Jonassen gave examples of what these were, I realised I had used many of them- Inspiration, spreadsheets and that. Admittedly, as a student, I never really felt that the computer was helping me that much... sure, it was handy, but did it really advance my learning and thinking? Maybe it was just second nature, suing those technologies, and I was used to it. Nevertheless, this article definitely has convinced me of the fact that teachers should, when possible, harness these Mindtools and introduce them in the classroom.

One thing I had a problem with was the subheading of "conversation tools"-

"Online communication presumes that students can communicate, that is, that they can meaningfully participate in conversations. In order to do that, they need to be able to interpret messages, consider appropriate responses, and construct coherent replies"

Obviously, this guy has never been on MSN.

“Cultural change needed to exploit ICT in schools”

I agreed with a lot of what Elliot said in her article- in many (likely, most) schools in Australia, there is an abundance of ICT resources, especially computers; but these are more often than not being ignored and more ‘traditional’ teaching methods and practices are still reigning supreme. What she said about education being “…notoriously slow to innovate” is, I think, quite true- education, essentially, has followed the same mould for many years (read: decades)- but is this necessarily a bad thing? Perhaps the reason education and teachers themselves are slow to embrace new ideas and technology is that the old ways are still effective?

Elliot is right when she says that many teachers are not confident or comfortable with modern technology, and this is why they do not integrate it into their curriculum as much as they could; I think this factor has more to do with it’s relatively limited use on the classroom, as many of these teachers probably recognize the potential positive aspects of ICT, but have no idea where or how to begin to introduce it into their lessons.

Despite so many schools in Australia being equipped with computers and other IT paraphernalia, the studies Elliot quotes show that a large percentage of these are not often used, and students do not have free access to them. Just because a classroom may have a few computers in it does not mean that they are being USED, and used effectively. When I was in primary school, we only used computers for playing games when we were good. (But when I was in year 6, we got a new principal who banned all the fun games and only let us play the boring, ‘educational’ games, like FRACTION ATTRACTION!! I think what adults see as Educational-Yet-Fun and what children see are often two completely different things, and this gap really needs to be bridged in order for me to be more won over by the prospect of greater IT use in schools.)

I’m kind of skeptical about her linking the fact that many teachers who use ICT in their classrooms for longer periods of time are more often described as “creative” or “fantastic” or “great organizers”. This seems like some slightly dodgy logic; how does high amounts of ICT use in the classroom correlate with good classroom management skills?
I understand teachers’ reluctance to fully embrace the ICT available to them; sometimes computers do not seem as ‘real’ as paper or books or boards- when reading over this article, I had to fight the urge to print it out and highlight with a real highlighter, but I guess we all have to accept that ICT is something that will definitely not be a passing phase, and must be harnessed and used for meaningful learning experiences.

But with great power comes great responsibility…

"Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants"

Marc Prensky's article "Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants" raised the pertinent issue of the ever-expanding Computer Age and it's effect on the students of today, how they learn, and how this impacts on educators and the education system itself.

As it was written seven years ago, based on US 'natives' and 'immigrants', I don't think this article is as up-to-date (as, in the Digital World, seven years is a LONG time, technology is developing at even faster rates) or 100% relevant to us, as Australian teachers; as America has always been ahead of us in this development; but there are definitely some good arguements raised. Good as these points are, I still found myself getting annoyed at Prensky (I bet he's the kind of person that laughs at his own jokes)- he seemed to be making some gross generalisations about the younger generations; "Digital Natives"- we do not read books, we spend all our waking hours absorbed in various technologies, we want things now now NOW... Are basically a group of selfish youths, unable to learn in "old school" ways, that WE are the immigrants of the Pen and Paper, the textbook. I think I'm getting side-tracked from what I'm meant to be writing about, but I really resented being lumped in this category. (Granted, while typing this, I am updating my ipod, listening to my stereo and awaiting a text. But that's by the by.)

In terms of how this relates to TEACHERS, I'm not so sure that the situation is as dire and THE-WORLD-WILL-END-IF-WE-DO-NOT-MAKE-LEARNING-INTO-COMPUTER-GAME-FUN!! as Prensky seems to make it; but I agree that some changes need to be made in how we teach. This technology is an accepted and permanent part of our world, and the fact that this is what children are now growing up with has to be accommodated for in education. (But what about all the ghetto kids that do not have access to this? In many parts of the world, Western or not, computers and such are still a relatively foreign concept. Will these students then be disadvantaged? I don't know. Think I'll save that one for Bono or Geldoff.) Teachers should most definitely make room in their classroom and curriculum for computers, the internet, smart boards and other forms of IT that are available to them. But they should not let them Take Over. Children still need to learn to read and write (did anyone else feel that Prensky was a bit TOO computer obsessed, and slightly neglected the importance of the "Old Country" teaching methods, and the incredible importance of producing literate and numerate students??), and while computers and the like can be used, and used very effectively, to assist such skills, they should not be the main focus. Yes, young people have changed from their predecessors, in terms of the way they think and how they approach education; but at the end of the day, I do not believe that this change is so extreme that the whole education system needs to be re-jigged; just adjusted and modernised. He says,

"Digital Immigrant teachers assume that learners are the same as they have always been, and that the same methods that worked for the teachers when they were students will work for their students now. But that assumption is no longer valid. Today’s learners are different."-Most of us in this class are part of this generation, and I think that we all still learn effectively (or, have the potential to do so) from our lectures and tutorials, from the prescribed readings, from these 'old school' methods. But technology, particularly computers, do help a lot in our learning; I still think that these technologies are an important secondary learning aid, but not The major way kids are going to learn.

It also has to be remembered that we are, primarily, TEACHERS- hopefully, we will all leave uni with an acceptable and practical amount of ICT knowledge- but it is not the be-all and end-all of our job. Despite all my NEGATIVITY, I do agree with the essential arguements he presents- we have to keep up with the ever-changing digital world, in order to accommodate for our students. But I think that they will still be willing to "slow down" for other, less high-speed learning.
And all day i've been thinking...

Gotta catch em all! Gotta catch em all!
Articuno Jynx Nidorina Beedrill
Haunter Squirtle Chansey... Pokemon!

(It was 2000, it was catchy, it was cool at the time.)

But the capital of Albania? No idea.
Score 1 for Prensky.